Fallout 76 ‘Thirst Things First’ Quest: How to Test Water Samples

How to Test Water Samples in Fallout 76 ‘Thirst Things First’ Quest

One of the very first quests you’ll get in Fallout 76 is ‘Thirst Things First.’ It’s fairly straightforward for the most part, but it can be a little confusing as to what you need to do in order to test water samples and how you get them.

That’s what we’ll be quickly running you through here step-by-step to ensure you can get the quest done and dusted and continue adventuring across the West Virginia wasteland.

The very first thing you’ll be tasked with doing in ‘Thirst Things First’ is to search for Kesha McDermott. You can use the terminal to uncover her whereabouts, which will lead you to a quest marker just by the river that runs through this little town.

Just like every other human NPC you thought you might find in Fallout 76, she’s dead. What you have to do here is collect the Water Testing Kit from her body.

Now that you’ve got the Water Testing Kit, it’s simply a case of walking into the river, or at least standing on the edge and looking down into it. Rather than drinking the water here (which is dirty and won’t do you much good), you’ll want to press Square on PS4 or X on Xbox One to collect it.

After collecting the water from the river, you’ll now need to follow your next quest marker to the Flatwood’s Water Pumps. Walk over to one of the pumps, and again press Square on PS4 or X on Xbox One to collect the water.

Now, return back to the large church building where you found the Overseer’s stash, and walk up to the altar at the back of the room. As you’re looking at it from having walked in, you want to go over to the right-hand side.

Here, you’ll find a Diagnostic Terminal. Interact with this, and then select the ‘Analyze Water Sample’ option that appears at the top of the terminal options available to you when using it.

This will see you successfully test water samples in ‘Thirst Things First’ and reveal to you that the water was, in fact, dirty (shock horror), and that you’ll need to boil it first before it’s relatively safe for you to drink and replenish that thirst meter.

That’s all you need to know to test water samples in Fallout 76‘s ‘Thirst Things First’ quest. For more tips, tricks, and information on the game, be sure to check out our ever-expanding Fallout 76 guide wiki.

We’ve also listed some of our most popular Fallout 76 guides down below for your convenience.

A UK History graduate, Chris is a firm believer that Bioshock is the pinnacle of video game storytelling. He spends his days playing games, watching TV, or desperately attempting to improve his movie knowledge. You can follow him on Twitter @ChrisJecks, or email him at [email protected]